Slaw

For the next while the Friday Fillip will be a chapter in a serialized crime novel, usually followed by a reference you might like to pursue. Both this chapter of the book and the whole story up to this point can be had as PDF files.…

Rejoicing over Legal Aid Ontario‘s (LAO’s) recent increased funding from the Government of Ontario, should be tempered by the listed “points of conscience” that follow this next paragraph.
The Government of…

Slaw Contributor Adam Dodek has been awarded the Canadian Bar Association (CBA)’s 2015 Walter Owen Book Prize for his book Solicitor-Client Privilege, published by Lexis-Nexis:
“Solicitor-Client Privilege explains key aspects of…

I started writing this article the other day for an attorney law blog and realized how silly it sounded. I put in all of the work and then realized that probably everyone knows that sipping on that Red Bull and Vodka isn’t any good…

A court appointed ad litem (often referred to as guardian ad litem in Raleigh) refers to a court-appointed advocate for children involved in court proceedings. These guardian ad litem volunteers represent the best interests of the child…

You’ve probably seen the shocking videos of de-beaked chickens shoved thirty to a cage at a factory farm, or rats running rampant at a food processing plant. Such things are upsetting to see- but as a member of the public, you…

Katie Sykes, a law faculty member of Thompson Rivers University, has written a paper that outlines international support for the formation of global animal protectionism. It argues law rather than science played a main role in arriving at two…

Couple can get money from Heydary’s insurance only, not former employee

A couple who lost $3.6 million lawyer Javad Heydary disappeared are entitled to garnishment from his liability insurance policy — but will have to renounce any claims against three lawyers formerly employed by him, the Court of Appeal…

Adding to this site’s archived ICBC cases assessing damages for pelvic injuries, reasons for judgement were released today by the BC Supreme Court, Vancouver Registry assessing damages for a pelvic fracture. In today’s case…

Reasons for judgement were released today by the BC Supreme Court, Vancouver Registry, addressing damages for a permanent low back nerve injury with accompanying depression. In today’s case (Bellaisac v. Mara) the Plaintiff, who was…

Out of Province Insurers Have No Subrogation Rights Over Part 7 Benefits Paid

Reasons for judgement were released today by the BC Supreme Court, Vancouver Registry, shutting down an attempt by the Progressive Max Insurance Company from exercising subrogation rights with respect to Part 7 benefits paid. In today’s…

Michael Geist's Blog

As the negotiations on the Trans Pacific Partnership continue in Hawaii, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has published a guest post I wrote on the implications of copyright term extension for Canada. The EFF has also launched a campaign…

Mapping Out the CRTC Blueprint for Universal, Affordable Internet Acce

In the wake of nearly two decades of study, debate, task forces, and government programs, Canada's telecommunications regulator has begun to unveil its blueprint for ensuring that all Canadians have access to affordable, high-speed Internet…

Mapping Out the CRTC Blueprint for Universal, Affordable Internet Acce

Appeared in the Toronto Star on July 25, 2015 as CRTC Looks to the Future With Ruling on High-Speed Internet Access In the wake of nearly two decades of study, debate, task forces, and government programs, Canada’s telecommunications…

Rule of Law

Kimberly Wallis gave me a copy of a grant of probate from the United Kingdom dated October 28th, 1914. The process for obtaining a grant of probate appears to have been very efficient in those days, as the deceased had died just 23 days…

Amendments to Probate Rules Include Provision for Substitution of Personal Representative on Death

As I wrote acouple of weeks ago, the probate rules were amended effective July 1, 2015. Among the changes is a new provision dealing with the procedure for appointing a new personal representative (executor or administrator) when the…

The Canadian Center for Elder Law together with the Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia are presenting a two day conference: The Journey of Aging – the Law and Beyond. The conference will be held on Thursday and…

Readers will notice that I've added a new item to this blog's homepage. It's a link to a site on which executors and estate administrators can publish Notices to Creditors and Claimants online, rather than in a newspaper. Click here to go to…

BC case shows what it takes to deal with title when kids have been added as joint to parents' property

There is a new case from the BC Supreme Court that sheds some light on a topic that is of consistent interest to the readers of this blog. I'm going to give a summary of the case here, but anyone who'd like to read the full case of The Estate…

Recently the Globe and Mail carried an article by Tim Cestnick that discusses the options available for transferring your cabin or cottage to your family after you have passed away. Click here to read the article. I like the article because…

Applying Law to Your Employment Matter It is not uncommon for an employee to be unsure of which law applies to their employment matter. Specifically, where the place of residence is not the same as the location of their employer. Picture an…

QUESTION An employee’s entitlement to severance is to say the least, at the discretion of the employer. But this is not a point blank answer, as there are many factors that play into effect. Where an employee is terminated and not…

Termination Due to Off-Duty Conduct The vulgar, off-duty conduct of Hydro One employee, Shawn Simoes, has brought concern for many employees. After all, it’s not often that an employee is terminated by their employer for their actions…

by Christian Paquette Did an employer discriminate against a single mother when it required her to work the regular shift rotation job she’d applied for? An Alberta court was recently asked to rule whether an arbitrator was right in…

Do you suspect your employees are sleeping at work? Quebec arbitrator holds you have the right to film them

by Karine Fournier In Quebec, in Unifor Québec et Moulage sous pression AMT inc., a grievance arbitrator confirmed that the employer had the right to temporarily film certain areas of the workplace when there had been several reports…

by Stephanie Gutierrez An addiction to drugs and/or alcohol is considered a disability in Canada. As such, employers in Canada often enter into last chance agreements with employees suffering from a drug or alcohol addiction. But does a last…

Law is Cool

By: Hilary Bowser It can be extremely difficult to work in the field of law and make time for our family and friends. Many believe that to be successful in our careers we must make sacrifices in our personal life. Is there truly a way to…

My new post up this morning at Attorney At Work:
Microsoft Office 2013 has been available for several months, but Office 2010 has been stable and mostly well-received in our firm. And with staff and lawyers already overwhelmed by the…

Filed Under &quot;You Learn Something New Every Day&quot;: Posting from Word to Exchange Public Folder

One of the many things I enjoy about my work is the constant learning and discovery. Even if it's a 'small' discovery, as this one is, it's often enough to make a difference in a workday. I'm always looking for more efficient ways…

My latest post is up at the ABA Law Technology Today blogPlease head off here to read the full post:
A couple of weeks ago our offices installed a brand-spanking
new VoIP phone system. I've been geeking out for the last little…

Welcome to all our readers who have been coming looking for quotes by SCC J. Brown. Look around and stick for other excellent commentary by our current authors. You may have go far back in the archives to find his...

My former colleague has had a truly meteoric rise, from assistant professor to associate professor to full professor to Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench to the Alberta Court of Appeal and now: The Supreme Court of Canada!…

In its recent decision of Iona Contractors Ltd. v Guarantee Company of North America,[1] a divided (2:1) Court of Appeal held that a payment obligation of an owner to a bankrupt general contractor was subject to a valid trust under...

Analysis of expert recommendations on reforming Ontario business law published on our M&amp;A law blog

Our readers will be interested in a post on our M&A law blog on proposed reforms to modernize Ontario’s business environment. The post highlights the recommendations of a 13-member expert panel of legal practitioners and…

OECD Common Reporting Standard to come into effect in Canada on July 1, 2017

Darin Renton and Junaid Subhan
Canadian financial institutions will be subject to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Common Reporting Standard as of July 1, 2017 with the first exchanges of financial…

Many of our readers will be interested in a post by our colleagues on our mining law blog which provides an overview of Quebec’s proposal on the regulation of mining, oil and gas companies with respect to payments in the course of…

A young girl from China is eagerly awaiting test results of genetic testing that could mean that she is entitled to inherit her biological father’s $50 million fortune. Gang Yuan, whom the child’s mother states is her biological…

The results of a recent study published in the American Medical Association Oncology Journal suggest that more patients with cancer are obtaining Continuing Powers of Attorney for Property than in the past. Approximately 74% of…

In a forthcoming article to be published in The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, Ian Hull and Dr. Kenneth Shulman, among others, explore the concept of the lucid interval. A lucid interval is a legal concept invoked…

Wise Law Blog

Windows 10? Yawn.If nothing else, the imminent launch of the new Windows OS gives us opportunity again to wonder why the Powers-That-Be at Microsoft continue to fail to grasp the obvious.In terms of user interface, they got it right…

Here are the current leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter:Georgia sues Carl Malamud group, calls publishing state’s annotated code of laws online unlawful Cosby seeks court sanctions against Canadian accuser over deposition…

Here are the leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter:Windows 10 Signifies Microsoft’s Shift in Strategy SCC to Rule on Dismissal Without Cause Regime Under the Canada Labour Code. 72 charges filed against Toronto UberX drivers…

Here's a look at what's new on Quickscribe 2.0. In June, the following experts added annotations to various pieces of legislation:Bill Buholzer, Young Anderson – Local Government Act, Oil & Gas Activities Act, Environmental…

Have you heard of the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA)? It's an ambitious project that aims to give free access to online collections in more than a thousand American libraries, archives and museums, and today it came one step closer…

Here's a quick look at what's new on Quickscribe 2.0. In the month of May, annotations were added to the:Local Government Act by Bill Buholzer, Young Anderson Employment Standards Act by Daniel Sorensen, Sorensen Smith…

What’s in a Name? Potential Personal Liability for Failure to Ensure Companies in BC Use Their Full Corporate Name

Many companies do business under a shortened version of their name or a separate business or trade name, without also setting out their full legal name. Recent British Columbia cases have confirmed the importance of using a…

Summary Judgment Applications in Alberta: Court of Appeal Indicates Appeals from Denials Will Be Difficult to Establish

The Alberta Court of Appeal in its recent decision, 776826 Alberta Ltd. v. Ostrowercha, 2015 ABCA 49, discussed the recent changes to the direction of the law on summary judgment applications. It confirmed that the decision of the Trial…

There is a rising trend towards holding supervisors and managers legally responsible for accidents in the workplace. On January 13, 2015, New Mex Canada Inc., an Ontario importer and retailer of furniture and accessories, was fined $250,000…

Green CardCase Info.Case History / Issues:Applicant was a Canadian citizen, and held TN visa status. Applicant subsequently married a U.S. citizen.Strategy:Reviewed case to ensure no preconceived intent issues, or potential employment gap or…

Under the government's new I-94 record keeping system, individuals who enter the U.S. under TN visa status no longer will receive a paper I-94 record. Instead, they will receive a stamp in their passport reflecting their TN status and…

Unlike under the H-1B visa, Physicians working in the U.S. under TN visa status may only fill teaching or research positions. They cannot provide direct patient care.
A Florida doctor is being charged criminally with visa…

Alberta Court of Appeal Confirms the Difficulty of Obtaining Summary Judgment in Terminating an Oil and Gas Lease

The Court of Appeal of Alberta recently released its decision in the case of P. Burns Resources Limited v Locke, Stock & Barrel Company Ltd., (2014 ABCA 40). The decision dealt with an oilfield lease held by Locke, Stock & Barrel…

As we previously reported, the Federal Government announced last year that it would introduce legislation to increase the amount of liability coverage required for nuclear plant operators and offshore oil and gas production. [More…]

Federal Court of Appeal rules illegal immigrant has no right to free health care

Illegal immigrant can’t get health care because she didn’t pay application fees
A Grenadian woman who came to Canada in 1999 and remained in Toronto after her visitor visa expired has been denied free health care by the Federal Court of…

We get a lot of traffic from our website. www.VisaPlace.com is one of the most popular immigration sites in North America and I would guess the world. Many of our clients find us online for Canadian and US immigration services. Of course our…

Hi Shab,
It was a little frightening but I got through immigration on Friday with a TRP valid until 31 July.
Ron will scan and send the TRP to you first thing Monday morning and I presume we will have to get an application for an extension…

Bankruptcy Advice Blog

I have been meeting with people for many years – reviewing their situation, discussing the issues that have caused them to fall into a debt crisis, looking at the options that will best suit their situation. Sometimes people come in…

When deciding whether to keep your house when you file for bankruptcy, you need to consider several factors. Ask yourself these questions and make sure to answer honestly: Do I want to keep it? Can I afford to keep it?…

When you file a bankruptcy many things that you normally would not think twice about, become important subjects. One of the things that your trustee is required to do when you file a bankruptcy, is to “investigate your affairs”.…

Library Boy

Shaunna Mireau, Director of Knowledge Management and Process Improvement at the Alberta-based firm Field Law, has published a series of Research Tips at Slaw.ca on how to create deep links to specific sub-collections in major Canadian…

The Canadian Bar Association has awarded its 2015 Walter Owen Book Prize to University of Ottawa law professor Adam Dodek for his book Solicitor-Client Privilege, published by Lexis-Nexis: "Solicitor-Client Privilege explains key aspects of …

The July 2015 issue of Connected is available online. The bulletin covers news about the impact of new social media on courts.The bulletin is published by the Virginia-based National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and the Conference of Court…

Deeds are not accomplished in a few days, or in a few hours. A century is only a spoke in the wheel of everlasting time – Louis Riel Two years ago, on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John … Continue reading →

Friday July 31 is the 16th annual SysAdmin Day. A day to show our appreciation to the IT professionals who keep our computers, networks and apps working. For those of us who push the tech envelope a bit beyond a typical…

From time to time various law enforcement and government types whine that encryption is a bad thing because it allows criminals to hide from authorities. That is usually followed by a call for security backdoors that allow…

The Intercept has an article entitled Chatting in Secret While We’re All Being Watched that’s a good read for anyone interested in how to keep communications private. It was written by Micah Lee, who works with Glenn…

Law Library Blog

LAW LIBRARY level 3: LC1059 .I58 2015 British Columbia, Office of the Ombudsperson, In the Public Interest: Protecting Students Through Effective Oversight of Private Career Training Institutions (Victoria, B.C. : Office of the Ombudsperson,…

Rogers Communications loses cell tower lease over move to sub-lease space to a third party

A Nova Scotia forestry company leased land to Rogers Communications for a cell tower. The original 1988 lease was renewed several times and provided that renewals would be "upon the same terms and conditions" as the original lease.…

The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench recently dismissed an application for judicial review of a decision by the appeal committee related to Alberta's crop insurance program. The regulations that govern crop insurance provide that the…

The following summary of a recent decision of the Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal says it all:"This Drainage Act appeal was unusual. Firstly, the quality of construction of the drainage works was challenged in…

Doorey's Law of Work Blog

Merril Hoge Steelers Jersey Martavis Bryant Jersey Misleading, fabricated or sensationalist headlines are subject to removalThe Teague Era finally came to an end Dec But Toyota said it is not aware of any accidents or injuries caused by this…

Jason McCourty Titans Jersey Jurrell Casey Jersey As with public school students, veterans enrolled at private universities have access to funds from various GI Bill programs, depending on the length of service, dates served and other…

Authentic Justin Gilbert Jersey Authentic Isaiah Crowell Jersey They should be clear so they aren’t confused with trash and thrown away Depending on your schedule and goals, you may opt for low intensity workouts five or six times per…

After the decision in Garcia v Google (discussed on this very blog here) last year the question of whether an actor (or actress) has a copyright interest in their respective performance, no matter how short, has been debated hotly. The…

Coffee Shop Conundrum - ECJ Decides on Free WiFi and Third Party Liability

In a time when the internet is nearly always with us, be it in a smartphone, a laptop or other smart devices, you often taken things for granted such as free WiFi. For many travelers it has saved their behinds from being lost, out of money,…

As has been well-established for years, copyright protects the expression of ideas rather than the ideas themselves (more on which can be found here), no matter what your expression for that idea may be. Words especially are a very nuanced,…

Last week the New York Times ran two excellent pieces called "The Price of Nice Nails" and "Perfect Nails, Poisoned Workers", which document the abuse of nail salon workers in the New York City area. The response to the piece has been…

Yesterday in the 2015 Federal budget there was language, in the "Modernizing the Canada Labour Code" section, that suggested that the Federal government would be moving to address the lack of protections for interns under the Canada Labour…

The decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Creston Moly Corp. v. Sattva Capital Corp., 2014 SCC 53 (Sattva) is a seminal decision in the review of arbitral awards. That decision apparently set a wide net of protection around…

Can A Change To A Construction Contract Be Set Aside For Duress Or Coercion?

Building projects often give rise to heated discussions. When a change order is made in that sort of situation, can one party later say that the change order was made under duress or coercion? The Newfoundland Court of Appeal said Yes in the…

Generally speaking, damages for a non-financial loss are not awarded for the breach of a business contract. That is because those sorts of damages are not foreseeable. The breach of a business contract may give rise to anxiety and distress,…

Dynamic Legal Forms Blog

Revoking a Will In the next series of blogs, I’m going to be talking about legal Wills. In a previous blog, I talked about what an “estate” is and what kinds of assets / properties go into it and what kinds of assets /…

Formal Wills (Part 2): Formalities Required for a Canadian Will to be Valid

Formalities required for a Will to be valid In the next series of blogs, I’m going to be talking about legal Wills. In a previous blog, I talked about what an “estate” is and what kinds of assets / properties go into it and…

Not really. Read our article in InterGaming Law for a full discussion on the issue of whether money laundering is actually more prevalent with online gambling and if so, whether it makes a difference whether the sites are regulated or...

According to this article in the Saigon Times, casinos in Macau remain the primary source of money laudnering for wealthy people from Mainland China. It refers to a report by China's national bank which estimates that in 2013, over $202...

The wife of Oman's foreign minister, Nora Al-Daher, lost her claim against London's Ritz Hotel over an alleged gambling addiction. In 2012, the Ritz sued Ms. Al-Daher to recover £1 million credit advanced to her to gamblle which she did...

The Ghosts of Fundamental Breach: New Developments in the Enforceability of Contractual Limitations of Liability Since Tercon

Recent years have witnessed significant developments in the law that governs the enforceability of contractual limitations of liability. These legal developments were prompted by a new, simplified and seemingly exhaustive analytical approach…

Email doesn’t need postage. Today, many service providers offer email accounts for free and monetize them through advertising. For example, every email sent to or from an account with “Gmail,” Google’s popular email…

In Mainstream Canada v. Staniford, 2013 BCCA 341, the British Columbia Court of Appeal considered whether the defence of fair comment applied to defamatory material published on the internet and in a press release. The key issue was whether…

It is easy to put up statistics and make yourself look good and the Alberta Attorney General / Solicitor General, Jonathan Denis, has just had help from the Calgary Herald / Edmonton Journal in a feel-good story about the province's Civil…

Dear Sgt. Patrick Webb,As Alberta spokesman for the RCMP, I ask you this question. Can I trust the members of Canada's historic national police service with my life and the lives of my family?I expect that you will deliver an emphatic "Yes,…

It’s rare and refreshing to see a member of Stephen Harper’s cabinet offer to amend a punitive piece of legislation.
“We have listened to parliamentarians on Bill C-31 (which overhauls Canada’s refugee system) and as a result we have…

It’s rare and refreshing to see a member of Stephen Harper’s cabinet offer to amend a punitive piece of legislation. “We have listened to parliamentarians on Bill C-31 (which overhauls Canada’s refugee system) and as a…

Ballad in Plain E

I guess I knew this day would come, but surprisingly, I’m not sad about it.
With lots of exciting but time-consuming things happening in my life lately, and a moderately successful new group blogging endeavour underway, I’m just…

Karen over at Library Technician Dialog has just written a great post entitled “A Value Proposition“. In it she explains something we’ve been thinking and talking about lately: why Winnipeg law firms don’t employ as…

I’ve been thinking all day about who I might write about for Ada Lovelace Day, the day that celebrates women and technology. I realised that it would only be fitting to write about two women who taught me during my two years doing the…

Queen's Law Life

I've recently received some emails from students who have been accepted into the Class of 2010. Congrats! For those of you who were accepted into multiple law schools, it is now time to decide which best suits your personality and career…

This past month has been crazy. Another class of Queen's Law grads is about to be unleashed onto the world. Our final set of exams has been written, our final papers have been submitted, our final keggers have been savored, etc.To an extent,…

The Montreal Gazette published an article about the law schools in Quebec. It seems like the process there is pretty much the same as the process in Ontario.First, beginning in February, there is a flood of student job applications at the top…

Lawyerlike

Last post! Except for graduation in three weeks, I have four months without thinking, writing, or agonizing over the law. Thankfully, though we've spent the last three years studying inside the crumbling edifice that is the Curtis Building…

It's not a couplet, but it's close. The last sentence I wrote on my Admin final, my last final, summing up a question where I was asked to offer advice on the likelihood of a successful immigration appeal for a Mr. and Mrs. Singh, was not…

Canadian Toronto Immigration Lawyer Blog

The Use of Representative form, once completed and received by the immigration department allows a lawyer to interact with the immigration department on your behalf. One key element is how to submit the use of representative…

Dealing with an untruthful client can be frustrating. As a lawyer, you would put in many hours into your client`s case to ensure he or she will be successful. However, if the client, for any reason, is not disclosing correct information that…

You’ve applied for a visa. It may be for a study or work visa or for permanent residence. It gets refused. What do you do? If you’ve hired an immigration consultant, they should advise you that you have an…

Canadian Tax Litigation

The Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed the appeal of the taxpayer and determined that the tax advisor penalty in section 163.2 of the Income Tax Act is administrative in nature. The Court’s 4-3 decision in Guindon v. The Queen…

What is the nature of the third-party penalty in section 163.2 of the Income Tax Act? That question will be answered by the Supreme Court of Canada when it decides the case of Guindon v. The Queen (Docket No. 35519) on Friday July 31. See our…

In Zhang v. Canada (A.G.) (2015 BSCS 1256), the British Columbia Supreme Court refused to grant rectification of a transaction in respect of which the taxpayers had no common intention to avoid capital gains tax on a share transfer.…

“Zero tolerance” policy on drugs in workplace upheld by human rights tribunal where employee did not have “marijuana card”

An employee who smoked marijuana on the job without legal and medical authorization was not discriminated against when dismissed under his employer’s “zero tolerance” policy, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal has…

MOL engineer not qualified to give expert evidence: he was too involved in the investigation, too closely identified with prosecution at trial

An Ontario judge has refused to permit a professional engineer employed with the Ontario Ministry of Labour to testify as an expert in a health and safety prosecution.
A company was charged under the Occupational Health and Safety Act after…

An adjudicator with the office of Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner has denied access to a Ministry of Labour inspector’s reasons for recommending that Occupational Health and Safety Act charges not be laid…